Archive for April, 2011

This organizer is great! It is made of a neoprene material with a small circular window in the front. It has 4 suction cups and has a large space that holds a TON of toys. It also can be positioned low enough for my daughter to get toys out, BUT if you place it against the corner of the tub ridge and the walls, not only does it mold the caulked area, but it also molds the inside of the basket from all the wet toys, the wetness of the bathroom, repeated baths and showers, etc. It also falls down quite a bit, but if you are looking for a good organizer that you can tolerate a little mold inside (you don’t see it, other than the caulking issue), then this one is great. I am sad it molded, I think the bottom would be better if were made of all mesh so it could get more air circulated to prevent mold. Overall, we enjoy it!

ETA: Well, I washed it, it said hand wash so I threw it in the “hand wash” cycle on my washing machine to wash out the mold spots (ew) and hung it to dry…something after that made it NOT STICK ANYMORE! I tried hand washing the spots out of the neoprene with a scrub bush, no luck. It was that that led me to the “hand wash” cycle. Whether this caused it or not, I’m not sure, but either way. It doesn’t stick anymore. I pounded, I banged, I ‘licked and sticked’, rubbed, pushed, slid…you name it I tried it and no dice. Putting little owl to bed, I heard CRASHHHHH!! So now the corner of my tub caulking is moldy and I have nothing to hold little owl’s toys.

This table is BEST standing table of all time. It DOESN’T sing, play music, or light up! It allows the children to explore sounds like rattling, shaking, and dinging. It allows children to develop their on fine motor skills by having them put the rings onto the post or into the slot, spin the rattle wheel, turn the gears, and put pop beads into their corresponding holes or on the pegs- all while building strength and learning to stand! This has been the one toy that little owl and all of her other friends have played with as their have grown and still continue to revisit even though they are walking. The rings have varying rattle sounds when you shake them, different textures to mouth, and are brightly colored. This table is an overall favorite for our goal of having mostly battery-free toys and encourages imagination, stimulates the senses, and builds strength all while the children are having fun. It also foster relationships when children stand, learn and play together!

Bambino Land is a great place to go for eco-friendly blankets and clothing for baby! Their swaddling blankets are amazing as they get softer each time you wash them! Little owl uses her ‘Peace and Love’ blanket as her lovey (we call it a “Binkit” after ‘Dinosaur’s Binkit’ by Sandra Boynton) and it has been a stroller cover to shield her from the sun, a picnic blanket for her and her dolls, a comfort, a snuggle buddy, and best friend. Had she had it since a newborn, it would have also been a swaddle. These blankets also swaddle incredibly well. I find the blankets with the smaller designs to be the best since the larger images covered more area and therefore felt a bit more rough than the buttery soft small (or no print) blankets were just after one washing. The print size does not affect the blanket when being used as a swaddle however because the print side is out and the softest part is touching your baby. That being said, if used as a “Binkit” then I would go with the smaller print or the simple colors for that purpose.

Being an eco-friendly home childcare owner it is extremely important that we have products that are eco-friendly, organic, and support a good cause. I did find the prices to be a tad on the higher side, but they are using organic and eco-friendly materials as well as a percentage of their profits go to a home for abandoned children in Nepal to help them provide food, shelter, and good help for their care.

The best part of Bambino Land is Jessica, the owner and founder of the small business. I got the opportunity to speak with her regarding my order and she was BEYOND helpful and kind. Her service was outstanding and she was able to go above and beyond what I needed in order to provide my little owl with the back-up “binkit” she needed. I was able to speak with her using the website’s instant chat feature that connects you with someone immediately that you can chat with over the computer in the instant message box provided. I actually was able to speak with her late (about 11pm) using that very handy and convenient feature. In addition to different theme collections of blankets, once in awhile they offer a special where you can build your own lovie/swaddle collection by mixing and matching the soft Muslin blankets of your choosing to coordinate your and your little one’s personality.

I was also able to review the ‘Peace, Love, and Owls’ yoga outfit for little owl. She loved it! It washed up so very soft and fit her very comfortably. She was able to explore her space, unrestricted, in her comfy Yoga pants. they fit with wide-leg style bottle and a top that has double snaps above one shoulder to ease on and off and to accommodate a child with a larger sized head. My favorite part, by far, was the pants. I wanted a pair in my size. She looked so comfortable and they fit her length perfectly yet they had a lot of space to grow.

Overall I was very please with my experience with Bambino land with their promises of blankets getting softer as they wash and excellent customer service. I will proudly continue to support their mission of bring environmentally friendly materials to children while helping those in need in other countries as well.

“Heads”, “Tails”, and “Alphabet” are three books by Matthew Van Fleet that we just recently got for our little owl. I just want to start this by saying that Heads and Tails are little owl’s ABSOLUTE favorite books (and ours actually)! They flow nicely with great almost lyrical rhythm that literally gets stuck in our heads. Cute pictures, A LOT of fun things to touch, feel, move, and look at.
Each book is chunky and durable compared to all other lift-the-flap and movable-part books that can withstand most not-so-gentle toddler hands. Each page presents quiet an extensive variety of sensory experiences! With a variety of textures; fluffy, scratchy, prickly, sticky, smooth, bumpy, fuzzy, floppy, and so much more! It is certainly a book that stinks—literally! There is a scratch-and-sniff stink bug in “Alphabet” and a skunk in “Tails”—and PEW! There are movable sections that show an elephant sneezing, eyes opening, eggs hatching, kangaroos jumping, hippo burping, etc. I also really like that in “Tails” there is a picture of a mother pig nursing her little piglets.
That being said, “Alphabet” is not Matthew’s 100%! It does come with a pop out alphabet poster that is pretty cool. We like it, we like that it rhymes, but the first page segment and the last page segment do not rhyme or flow…it feels weird and out of place. 😦 Not our favorite; we were looking forward to so much more. The pages in between are pretty good; octopus with sticky tentacles that little owl gets literally gets “stuck” on, but nothing compared to our family favorites; “Heads” and “Tails”! If you need to choose one, go with “Heads”, but they are both GREAT!! “Alphabet” is good to own, but definitely not the top choice in our house.

BONUS ENTRIES!!!!
1) Refer a friend…if they leave a comment with who sent them you will get an extra entry into this giveaway…the more friends you refer (who leave comments with your name as the person who referred them) the more entries you get.